Loveless Ages

Chapter Twelve

I sit in a private hospital room with Xander who lays in the bed resting. I watch him sleep and am comforted by the rise and fall of his chest, which signifies his breathing. He isn’t dead. I pace back and forth waiting for him to awake. The doctor advised me not to wake him and to let him awake on his own terms. When he wakes up he smiles.

“Looks like I’m not dead after all,” Xander says. I smile widely.

“I told you,” I say, “You’re fine.”

“Because of you,” he responds.

“Why did you go alone?” I ask Xander. He looks away from me.

“I thought that if I went alone and I was successful, then you wouldn’t need to get involved,” he admits. I stare at him skeptically.

“You went alone… for me?” I ask.

“I guess,” he mumbles. I scoot closer to him.

“That was really stupid,” I say to him.

“Yeah,” he nods, “In retrospect it was pretty stupid.” I stare at him for a long moment. A lot of the color has returned to his skin and his lips…

“Malinda?” Xander says, pulling me out of my thoughts.

“Yes.”

“What did the doctors say?” he asks, “Did you speak to them?”

“They gave you an emergency blood transfusion,” I tell him, “But you’re okay now.” He is quiet for a moment.

“Know what would make me better?” he asks. I look at him curiously.

“What?” I ask.

“Come a little bit closer and maybe I’ll tell you,” he says. I feel a blush spread in my cheeks as his fingers close around my wrist and he tugs gently, urging me to come closer to him. He pulls me onto his lap, a mischievous smile playing on his lips. I feel the familiar fluttering in my stomach that always happens when I’m near him. He pushes his fingers through my hair.

“Do you want this?” Xander asks calmly. His face is expressionless.

“Yes,” I say, “Of course.” He leans back in his hospital bed and pulls me onto him so that I lay on top of his chest.

“I hate the fact that Adriel got what he wanted,” Xander says, “And how are we going to get that memory device? Shit.” I sigh loudly.

“Yeah,” I say airily as I dig my hand into my pocket, “I wonder how we’re going to get that memory device…” I open my hand up and show him the device. I watch with pleasure as his eyes pop out of his head.

“Malinda!” he exclaims.

“Don’t underestimate me,” I say to him.

“How did you manage to get this?” he asks. I raise an eyebrow.

“Don’t you worry about that Princess,” I say. He shoots daggers at me with his eyes.

We don’t wait until a doctor comes by to discharge Xander. We simply sneak out of the hospital. When we get back to The Complex we go back to the lab to find everyone gathered around. Their eyes go from the bandages wrapped around Xander’s wrists to my ripped clothing.

“What happened?” Obadiah asks. The concern is apparent in his eyes. 

“The details are unnecessary,” Xander says abruptly. I take the bloody memory device and place it on the lab table.

“The information on the catalyst should be here,” I say. This takes a minute to sink in.

“Let’s do this,” Obadiah says.